Quotes from book
The Hostile Hospital

The Hostile Hospital is the eighth novel in the children's book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, the pseudonym of Daniel Handler. It takes place shortly after The Vile Village and is followed by a sequel, The Carnivorous Carnival.


Daniel Handler photo
Daniel Handler photo
Daniel Handler photo
Daniel Handler photo

“At this point in the dreadful story I am writing, I must interrupt for a moment and describe something that happened to a good friend of mine named Mr. Sirin. Mr. Sirin was a lepidoptrerist, a word which usually means "a person who studies butterflies." In this case, however, the word "lepidopterist" means "a man who was being pursued by angry government officials," and on the night I am telling you about they were right on his heels. Mr. Sirin looked back to see how close they were--four officers in their bright-pink uniforms, with small flashlights in their left hands and large nets in their right--and realized that in a moment they would catch up, and arrest him and his six favorite butterflies, which were frantically flapping alongside him. Mr. Sirin did not care much if he was captured--he had been in prison four and a half times over the course of his long and complicated life--but he cared very much about the butterflies. He realized that these six delicate insects would undoubtedly perish in bug prison, where poisonous spiders, stinging bees, and other criminals would rip them to shreds. So, as the secret police closed in, Mr. Sirin opened his mouth as wide as he could and swallowed all six butterflies whole, quickly placing them in the dark but safe confines of his empty stomach. It was not a pleasant feeling to have these six insects living inside him, but Mr. Sirin kept them there for three years, eating only the lightest foods served in prison so as not to crush the insects with a clump of broccoli or a baked potato. When his prison sentence was over, Mr. Sirin burped up the grateful butterflies and resumed his lepidoptery work in a community that was much more friendly to scientists and their specimens.”

Lemony Snicket
The Hostile Hospital (2001)

Daniel Handler photo
Daniel Handler photo

Similar authors

Daniel Handler photo
Daniel Handler 190
American novelist, children's writer, creator of Lemony Sni… 1970
Jim Carrey photo
Jim Carrey 21
Canadian-American actor, comedian, and producer
Gerard Way photo
Gerard Way 1
American musician and comic book writer
Chuck Palahniuk photo
Chuck Palahniuk 555
American novelist, essayist
Nicholas Sparks photo
Nicholas Sparks 646
American writer and novelist
John Green photo
John Green 103
American author and vlogger
Laurell K. Hamilton photo
Laurell K. Hamilton 261
Novelist
Carlos Ruiz Zafón photo
Carlos Ruiz Zafón 149
Spanish writer
Sherrilyn Kenyon photo
Sherrilyn Kenyon 752
Novelist
Malala Yousafzai photo
Malala Yousafzai 38
Pakistani children's education activist